Without a thermal management system in place, it’s not uncommon for the internal temperature of indoor electrical and control enclosures to exceed 122°F. Whether you are a design engineer, panel builder, contractor, or OEM, you need to ensure that electrical installations will not overheat.

The peak rating of most electrical and electronic equipment is much lower, so reducing overheated enclosure temperatures pays big cost dividends. In industries like metalworking, glassworks, or automotive for instance, just one hour of downtime can run into many thousands of dollars, or even millions. The human toll can be high too, particularly if critical transportation or safety infrastructure applications fail.

Optimizing temperature is the key
Both high and low temperatures directly affect the reliability and service life of vital equipment. Even an apparatus that doesn’t fail will experience a shorter service life. If, for example, the operating temperature of a variable speed drive rises by 59°F, its lifetime will be three times shorter. And clustered variable speed drives can push operating temperatures up to 158 °F.

What’s more, significant temperature swings in recent years have subjected devices and systems to additional extremes in shorter periods of time. Such variations can seriously impair the reliability and effectiveness of equipment — particularly temperature-sensitive components like batteries. In a nutshell, when electric installations and devices housed in control panels shut down or malfunction, it is almost always a thermal issue caused by high temperatures.

A simple, cost-effective, and capable solution is available now
The solution is thermal management. Schneider Electric offers reliable, effective thermal management solutions and we even have a software tool that helps you choose the one that’s right for you. ProClima software is available for free and it calculates your optimal operating temperatures and points users toward the best thermal management solution. We’ve also unveiled a new generation of ClimaSys electronic thermal devices. The range doesn’t just prevent overheating, it also controls humidity and water condensation in onshore and offshore installations. It is easy to implement — there is no downtime, it reduces maintenance costs, and increases the service life of your control panels.